


Time Capsule of Truth

by CatrinaSL



Series: Three Things [55]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gin Still, Home for Christmas, Locked Box, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Snow, Three Things, Tree Fort, swears, time capsule
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-05 02:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13378470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy, Bucky, and Clint are all home for the holidays. They open up a time capsule from their childhood, not expecting all their truths to come out.





	Time Capsule of Truth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChrissiHR](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrissiHR/gifts).



> ChrissiHR prompted gin still, tree fort, a locked box.

Darcy trudged through the snow, lugging the box behind her. She paused at the edge of the clearing, looking up at the tree fort. It was a stupid place to be in this weather, but she could already see the tracks Clint and Bucky had made.

As she made her way to the base of the tree, she wondered if she'd be able to talk them into going back inside.

"Shit!"

"Darcy?"

"Oh my god, Darce, are you okay?"

"No, I love being face down in the snow," Darcy murmured into the drift that had piled up at the bottom of the tree.

Hands were pulling her upright, and she blinked snow out of her eyes to focus on Clint, who was dusting her off, and Bucky, who picked up the box she'd been carrying.

"What happened?"

"I must have tripped over the damn still. Granddad shoulda had it hauled outta here ages ago."

"It's historic," Bucky said. "What's this?"

"Gran said it was a time capsule that's been in the basement since we were ten," Darcy told them. "Wanna go inside and open it?"

"Sure," Clint said, pulling her in for a quick hug.

"Uh, where are you going?" Darcy asked Bucky.

"Tree fort?" Bucky replied. "Thought it was obvious given how I'm halfway up the ladder...?"

"When I said 'inside,' I meant inside the  _ house _ . Where it's  _ warm _ ."

"Yeah, but... if we're gonna open the time capsule, don't you wanna do it where your Gran won't be looking over our shoulder?" Clint asked.

"What does that matter?" Darcy wanted to know. "I'm  _ cold _ ."

"Do you remember what you put in there?" Clint said, nodding up at the box that was disappearing into the tree fort with Bucky.

"Like a Christmas ornament or something, I dunno. Why?"

Clint gave her a sideways smile. " _ I _ remember."

"What could you have put in there as a ten year old that my grandmother shouldn't see?" Darcy asked, following him up the ladder. "And what are you even doing here, anyway? I thought you swore you'd never come home for Christmas."

"I didn't," Clint said, helping Darcy stand and closing the trap door after her.

"You look pretty here to me," Darcy huffed, joining Bucky on the "couch," the bench seat they had salvaged out of an old car and hauled up into the tree fort when they were in middle school. She snuggled in against him, and he pulled her close to share his warmth.

"I'm  _ here _ , but I'm not 'home,'" Clint said, busying himself with opening the box.

Darcy frowned. "You mean you're not staying at home."

"Home is wherever you guys are," Clint reminded her.

"Fine, okay, but—"

"He's staying with me," Bucky said pointedly, but Darcy wasn't sure what he was pointing at.

"On the floor of your room like when we were kids?"

There was a beat of silence before Bucky answered: "No. He's staying in my bed. With me. Because we're  _ together _ ."

"Oh," Darcy said, finally getting it. " _ Oh _ ."

"You okay with that, Darce?" Clint asked, struggling with the box, which was apparently locked.

"Yeah, I mean... Yeah! You guys... yeah. It was bound to happen, right? At least two of the three of us... pairing up."

"I always thought it'd be you and Bucky," Clint said. He carefully selected a stick out of Bucky's hoard of prized sharpened pokers and violently attacked the lock.

"Hey, that's my favorite stick!" Bucky protested.

"They're  _ all _ your favorite," Darcy recalled, crossing her legs over the top of Bucky's. Without really thinking about it, he rubbed a hand over her knees to warm them. Darcy shivered. From the cold, she told herself.

"Pay dirt!" Clint exclaimed, cracking the box open and grabbing a ball that bounced out of it before it could roll under the table. He tossed it to Bucky. "Hey, my GI Joe!"

"Is that  _ my _ super bounce ball?" Darcy gasped. "I thought—you told me my cousin lost this!"

"I wanted to make sure he didn't," Bucky murmured. 

Darcy punched him in the arm, but then hugged him. "You sent my favorite toy forward in time for me, you asshole."

Clint was watching them, a strange look on his face. It wasn't jealousy or nostalgia, but more of a happy, contented smile.

"Sorry," Darcy said, backing off Bucky. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Darce," Clint said, tugging a crate over to sit in front of them. "You can hug Bucky all you want." He scooted up close to them and held out a couple of pieces of paper.

"What's this?" Bucky asked.

"Letters," Clint replied. "To our future selves."

"Oh my god, I remember writing this!" Darcy gasped. "I totally said I wanted to have a bunny hutch on the White House lawn!"

"Were you gonna be, like, the gamekeeper or something?" Bucky asked.

Darcy thumped him again. "I was gonna be the  _ president _ ," she told him.

"'When I grow up, I want to be the world's best trick shooter,'" Clint read. "'And I wanna—'"

"You wanna what?" Bucky prompted.

"Nothing," Clint said, flattening the notebook paper against his chest. "It's private; your turn."

"Mine is... also private," Bucky informed them loftily, leaning to one side to put the letter in his coat pocket.

"That's not fair!" Darcy protested, pulling on his arm to keep his hand out of his pocket. "We shared ours!"

"No you didn't," Bucky said, resisting. "You said what was in yours, but it's not like you read it to us. And Clint only did half of his."

Darcy relented. "The only other thing in it is who I wanted to marry."

"Who?" Clint wanted to know.

Darcy stuck her nose in the air. "That's privileged information," she told him. "National security."

Clint smirked. "Of course, Madam President."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "It just says 'someone nice.'"

Bucky blinked. "Really?"

"Really," Darcy replied, trying not to blush. "Well… at first I wrote down 'Clint,' then crossed it out and wrote 'Bucky,' but I figured it wasn't fair to one of you if I married the other, so..." She shrugged.

"We're both nice," Clint pointed out.

"Obviously," Darcy said. "I wouldn't have entertained the possibility of having one of you support my presidential aspirations otherwise."

Bucky slowly pulled his letter back out of his pocket. "Mine just says, 'When I grow up I want to be with Clint and Darcy forever,' and then there's a drawing of the three of us holding hands."

"Oh my god, that's adorable!" Darcy cooed, turning the page to show Clint.

"Totally," Clint agreed, flourishing his paper again. "Mine says the same thing. No adorable drawing, but I did write that I want to kiss you."

"Me?" Darcy asked.

Clint grinned. "Both of you."

"So whenever we talked about our crushes in junior high and high school, and you wouldn't tell...?"

"Yup," Clint confirmed. "I was terrified you'd never speak to me again."

"Aw, Clint!" Darcy cooed, leaning forward to pull him in for a hug.

"Hey," Bucky objected, taking his letter back out of Clint's hand. "This is clearly romantic hand-holding. How come he gets a hug and I don't?"

"Okay, well—" Darcy did her best to get both of them in to a hug. It was a little awkward, but they made it work. "There. And now all of our dreams have come true. You guys are together forever, and I'm the president of the world."

"You're not, though," Bucky unhelpfully pointed out. "You don't even have a bunny."

"I have a plushie," Darcy argued.

"You  _ could _ ..." Clint began, glancing at Bucky.

Darcy looked between them, suspicious. "I could what?"

"We're both nice," Clint said again.

"You are," Darcy agreed. "And I think it's wonderful that the two of you—"

"We don't just want it to be the two of us," Bucky interrupted.

"You... don't?" Darcy frowned, very confused.

"We want you, Darce," Clint said.

"To do what? Officiate your wedding?"

Bucky shook his head, pointing at each one of them in turn until Darcy started to catch on.

"Oh, uh..."

"But only if  _ you _ want to," Clint told her.

Darcy grinned. "Well, it was bound to happen, right? The three of us getting together."

"Sure," Bucky said with a slow smile, as he leaned that smile closer.

"I do have one request," Darcy said before his lips could touch hers.

"What's that, Darce?" Clint asked, looking like he'd just gotten what he wanted for Christmas.

"Can we go inside? It's  _ freezing _ out here!"

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me about your favorite childhood retreat in the comments!
> 
> [Prompt a Three Things fic!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7S2MbkK0CxVHMG3kF8CD6fYqD0zwY-J6MqLb21nmFyRpE4w/viewform)
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/169720611893/time-capsule-of-truth)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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